Fukushima mon amour

My guide, when I went to visit Chernobyl on the 25th anniversary of the accident, was a Greenpeace campaigner from Germany named Tobias Muenchmeyer. Tobias is the deputy head of our political unit in Berlin and also happens to know a great deal about nuclear power. But what really registered with me as we traveled together was the fact that Tobias has a personal tie to Chernobyl. His wife Katya was a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kiev in 1986.

Katya was actually incredibly lucky, all things considered. Five days after the accident, which at that point was still a state secret, her mother was told about it by a someone in the know. Katya’s parents scrambled to send their daughter away to friends in Moscow, and she was saved further exposure to the radiation that caused tens of thousands of deaths. Thirteen days on General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, finally admitted the magnitude of the disaster. Later on the Soviet government established mandatory resettlement for all people living in an area with exposure to radiation of 5 millisieverts (mSv) per year. (During the first days after the accident Kiev was already measuring 8 microsieverts per hour, which means a dose of 5mSv would be reached after approx. 25 days.)

Tragedy is often more easily apprehended when seen through a survivor’s story, and I couldn’t help but think of Katya and her parents as we drove north from Kiev, backwards in time, past stretches of abandoned land that reminded me of parts of underdeveloped Africa, to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

The reason for our trip to Chernobyl that starless night was to “bear witness” to the anniversary as part of Greenpeace’s decades-long campaign to stop nuclear energy. After three hours, we passed a sign that read “Dityatki 30 Kilometers Checkpoint“ and we were officially in the “Zone.” Crossing a long bridge we turned left and drove the length of the empty nuclear plant, past Reactor No. 1 (shut down in 1996), Reactor No. 2 (shut down in 1991 after a fire), Reactor No. 3 (closed under international pressure in 2000) and finally the remains of Reactor No. 4, now covered by the infamous “sarcophagus“ hastily constructed in 1986.

Kumi Naidoo Executive Director of Greenpeace International (left) and Tobias Muenchmeyer, Nuclear Expert Greenpeace Germany (right) hold an anti-nuclear banner in the very minute of the anniversary.

Photo copyright Vadim Kantor / Greenpeace

It was close to midnight when we arrived and prepared for our “action,” which had been authorized by the Ukrainian government. Then at 1:23 a.m., 25 years to the minute after the disaster, as wild dogs in the area began howling, provoked by the distant ringing of bells at a Russian Orthodox chapel, we began our “action.” We projected a gigantic image of Munch’s “Scream” onto the shell of the old sarcophagus. Under the image ran the phrase “Stop nuclear madness” in a revolving series of Ukrainian, Japanese, Russian, German and English. Media around the globe used this material to illustrate their anniversary coverage.

Afterward, surprisingly reticent to leave the ghosts of the past, we decided to stop at the ruins of the village of Kopachi, about two kilometers away. You’ve probably seen photos from this town, a sort of Pompeii with remains of concrete prefabricated buildings. Everywhere long sticks with little yellow radiation signs litter mountainous heaps of rubble, lest anyone forget that this is nuclear waste still waiting to be transported to a “safe” storage area.

One of the few buildings still somewhat intact is the kindergarten. Inside, our torches shed light on paintings of fairytale characters, children's beds, a big bathroom with five children’s sinks in a row, blackboards and books – all covered by the dust of 25 years. In the corner of a playroom I came across a pair of boy's baby shoes, their nameless owner quickly added along with Tobias’s wife’s in my personal collection of Chernobyl memories.

The area around Chernobyl once counted a population of 120,000 people. Today it is home to packs of wild dogs and a couple hundred elderly people who have returned, primarily for lack of anywhere better to go. It is a zone of the dying and the dead.

I am told that in Fukushima, which I will visit next week, life continues as normal, despite alarmingly high radiation levels being detected in schools, shrines and other places where people gather. Children have even been sent back to class. The government has instigated “voluntary” relocation - but for those without the funds or means to pick up and move, this is meaningless.

In April, five weeks after a tsunami and earthquake damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the Japanese authorities raised the upper level limit of acceptable radiation from 1 mSv per year to 20 mSv per year for school children.

It is hard to believe that the current Japanese government is falling so far behind the 5 mSv standard set by the Soviets. How can a government that lived with the fallout of nuclear bombs allow such high levels of radiation exposure for its children? Why is the Japanese government not actively decontaminating school grounds?

I think about Katya and the pupils of the Kopachi kindergarten who hopefully managed to grow up far away from the radiation. For those not endowed with memory of previous tragedies, surely these stories should be enough?

The Japanese government must do all that it can to protect its citizens from the aftereffects of Fukushima. Meanwhile, the rest of the world must join the Japanese, German and Swiss governments who have decided to stop funding nuclear energy. No more Chernobyls. No more Fukushimas. Never again.

"For the past 25 years, anti-nuclear campaigners have been racking up the ...

From George Monbiot, the UK's leading environment writer:

"For the past 25 years, anti-nuclear campaigners have been racking up the figures for deaths and diseases caused by the Chernobyl disaster, and parading deformed babies like a mediaevel circus. They now claim that 985,000 people have been killed by Chernobyl, and that it will continue to slaughter people for generations to come. *These claims are false*.

The UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (Unscear) is the equivalent of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Like the IPCC, it calls on the world’s leading scientists to assess thousands of papers and produce an overview. Here is what it says about the impacts of Chernobyl.

Of the workers who tried to contain the emergency at Chernobyl, 134 suffered acute radiation syndrome; 28 died soon afterwards. Nineteen others died later, but generally not from diseases associated with radiation(6). The remaining 87 have suffered other complications, included four cases of solid cancer and two of leukaemia. In the rest of the population, there have been 6,848 cases of thyroid cancer among young children, arising “almost entirely” from the Soviet Union’s failure to prevent people from drinking milk contaminated with iodine 131(7). Otherwise, “there has been no persuasive evidence of any other health effect in the general population that can be attributed to radiation exposure.”(8) People living in the countries affected today “need not live in fear of serious health consequences from the Chernobyl accident.”(9)

Caldicott told me that Unscear’s work on Chernobyl is “a total cover-up”(10). Though I have pressed her to explain, she has yet to produce a shred of evidence for this contention. "

The actual link to the science is here: http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/Advance_copy_Annex_D_Chernobyl_Report.pdf

By not supporting Nuclear GP is killing the environment by climate change.

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) yorgekid
says:

I have a sad story to share where in Malaysia, we will soon have nuclear energy and the related industry to it. it is good to focus on the big one but...

I have a sad story to share where in Malaysia, we will soon have nuclear energy and the related industry to it. it is good to focus on the big one but we should not forget the small ones too which if accumulated could be bigger than the big ones we are focusing.

currently we have a thorium plant which is under construction and be operational soon. god knows what purposes does this plant serve but the possibility of a thorium nuclear reactor cannot be overlooked as it is nuclear energy as well.

the people of Malaysia are pleading for international help but there aren't any response from the international community. they are left to fend themselves and observing the relationships of the parties involve the processing construction of processing plant will go on as scheduled.

if Greenpeace is true to their pledge, they should honour it by preventing any industry that are related to the nuclear energy from taking root in any nation who does not have nuclear energy to prevent the creation of a buffer that will promote the nuclear energy industry.

there is still time to stop the Malaysia crisis and save lives that are not affected yet. Greenpeace have done a good job in dealing with big crisis with big impacts. now they should widen more to small crisis with massive impacts.

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) Daithesci
says:

Dear Yorgekid,

"currently we have a thorium plant which is under construction".

That is excellent news good luck w...

Dear Yorgekid,

"currently we have a thorium plant which is under construction".

That is excellent news good luck with it. A few points of interest for you regarding wonderful Thorium Reactors:

1) They are much, much, safer than conventional reactors. This is partly because they need power to keep running. They can, unlike conventional reactors, just be 'switched off'.
2) They produce no weapons grade nuclear material. This was the main reason why they weren't taken up in the first place - the governments of the day wanted nuclear weapons as a side product.
3) They can utilise nuclear waste from conventional reactors as part of their fuel mix, effectively cleaning up their waste. The waste from a Thorium reactor is only dangerous for less than 300 years, rather than 100,000 for a traditional reactor.
4) They are incredibly efficient, using 96% of the Thorium. Uranium reactors use less than 1% of the fuel
5) Thorium is as common as lead.

Thorium (and conceivably Boron) reactors are a great hope for beating climate change.

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) Daithesci
says:

"Until then I had never quite appreciated the full significance of the breeder [thorium reactor]. But now I become obsessed with the idea that Hu...

"Until then I had never quite appreciated the full significance of the breeder [thorium reactor]. But now I become obsessed with the idea that Humankind's whole future depends on the breeder."
Alvin Weinberg.

Good summary video on Thorium Reactors from some NASA scientists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWUeBSoEnRk&feature=related

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) B1
says:

Humankind's future never can depend upon manufactured energy. It is inherently flawed, dangerous, destructive and limited. Humankind's future must dep...

Humankind's future never can depend upon manufactured energy. It is inherently flawed, dangerous, destructive and limited. Humankind's future must depend upon harnessing the limitless powers of this world in as close to their native state as possible: easily and healthily renewable organic materials, sunlight, water and wind. These are the ways that have aided humankind for millennia, and if they are pursued in their current forms and capabilities and with a respect for the harmony of all of the living world, a way can be found.

Post a comment

To post a comment you need to be signed in.

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) TheSomnambulist
says:

Just want to add, for the record, that I have read news reports of the Japanese decontaminating schools in Fukushima by removing layers of topsoil. Not that that would be a complete solution or anything...

Post a comment

OPTIONAL: Register to avoid filling out forms each time you post a comment
Sign Up Here
login via Facebook or Google

(Unregistered) theohmygodscreaminggirl
says:

hey chose 20 probably they know it is impossible to go under that figure if they even can do that at all. so by 20x their old standard they can still ...

hey chose 20 probably they know it is impossible to go under that figure if they even can do that at all. so by 20x their old standard they can still tell most of the public they are "SAFE" or "WITHIN LIMITS" or even "exceeding such by 10x is still too low for any concern" that kind of stuff. there is no enough cleaning up for this kind of mess. god knows what is happening to the food chain..